In a dark week, we find light in career development

In a week dominated by news of the US election, any good news was welcome, especially news that translates to the growth of tech sector jobs.

It’s been a light week for jobs announcements. Perhaps companies knew they’d only be screaming into the void if they announced anything this week. Monday saw two companies – Aviva and Storyful – trotting out jobs, then nothing.

Luckily, there was plenty to fill the silence.

First up was, of course, the election. It’s no surprise that politics affects industry, but sometimes, those effects can be surprising.

This week, we learned that the US election was having a surprising knock-on effect on the number of millennials interested in cybersecurity jobs. With the massive government-level hacks that took place over its course – from voter databases to the DNC – perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised at all.

Moving away from the election (thank God, I hear you say), we spoke to Aengus McClean, AOL Platforms SVP at AOL Technologies, Dublin, about developing STEM education in order to narrow the skills gap.

When asked what the one thing he’d change about the STEM sector was, he responded: “To make the maths side of STEM more approachable for more people. I think it’s very daunting.”

He’s not wrong, as we saw elsewhere this week. According to a survey run prior to STEM event College & Beyond, there is a perception among students and teachers that maths is the most difficult subject to study at third level.

Though, perhaps, students would be more likely to pursue STEM careers in spite of this, if they knew that their transition from school to the working world would be smooth.

This week, we spoke to some top tech companies about the graduate programmes they offer to help students bridge the gap between education and working life.

But talent development doesn’t just take place on the talent end. This week, we also heard from Sydney Finkelstein, author of Superbosses: How Exceptional Leaders Master the Flow of Talent, who offered some advice to managers who want to become, well, more super.

Following the US presidential election, young adults are more likely to pursue a career in cybersecurity, according to a survey by major US defence contractor Raytheon and the US National Cyber Security Alliance.

In a world where talented employees are becoming more discerning about where they work and who they work with, it’s more important than ever to develop an appealing management style – to become a superboss.

Kirsty served as Silicon Republic’s Careers Editor from when she joined the company in 2015 up to August 2017. When she was younger, she had a dream where she started and won a fight with a T-Rex, so she’s pretty sure she kicked butt at this, too. Passions include eating all the cake, watching more TV than is healthy, and sassy comebacks. Her favourite thing on the internet is, and will likely remain, Pun Dog.